Shift to social realism more pronounced in this year’s drama festival

Guyana’s fourth annual National Drama Festival closed last week after the performance of 27 plays in five categories. Tonight it holds its Awards Presentation at the National Cultural Centre from 7 pm, and this will be the crowning glory for all its achievements in 2014.

As would be expected, this festival gave a good indication of the current trends on the contemporary Guyanese stage, partly because of the large number of new plays that it normally attracts. Further, the contest has now caught the interest of the large commercial productions and leading national dramatists.

It is also a good exhibition of these trends because it showcases a very wide range of performances by groups in five categories from the top professionals to the newcomers and secondary schools. What is even more, the productions came from various regions including East Berbice, Mahaica, Essequibo Coast and the North West.

The festival was therefore a virtual survey of Guyanese drama and underlined the fact that many new groups are developing an interest in theatre.

This interest is not only in performing but in using drama to communicate messages, as in the cases of a number of church/religious groups, and to comment on several problematic social issues plaguing Guyanese society. This is a recent trend in local theatre, demonstrated by the way many secondary schools created plays around surprisingly common subjects; an indication that these social problems are not only widespread and deep-rooted, but that they somehow weigh on the minds of many, including the teenagers.

This was evidenced by the fact that the clear majority of plays most notably in the Debutantes and Schools sections were new. Overwhelmingly, the new plays tackled such issues as human trafficking – its tragic ruthlessness and its unsuspecting victims.

Given equal common treatment was the abuse of children: ill-treatment by parents, sexual abuse and the ‘cruel stepmother’ syndrome. Added to that was domestic abuse generally, domestic violence and turbulent disorder in homes. The plays interrogated these problems to the point where the judges saw merit in even a few badly handled productions because of their treatment of these issues. The dramas were sufficiently insightful to show how domestic disorder or negligence led to errant behaviour including sexual deviance and its consequences among teenagers.

That was a factor of the recent trends mentioned. Over the past six years (roughly) the tendency has been observed for new Guyanese drama to focus on social realism, overtaking the previous trend, which was comedy and farce. This has been a notable feature of plays entered in the festival since it began in 2011. The Debutante category revealed how new groups that never did drama before developed an interest in this branch of the performing arts. They then used it for social messages. Christian groups used it to claim the ascendancy of their faith over the same social plagues prevalent in the new plays.

However, along with the rise of or the rebirth of social realism, has been an interest in modernist creativity and experimental theatre techniques. This was a marked feature in the Drama Festival in 2013 and certainly in 2014.

Both playwrights and directors have ventured out in these directions. This was striking in 2013 with plays like Creative Burial Ground by Rae Wiltshire directed by Nickose Layne; Before Her Parting by Mosa Telford, directed by Tivia Collins; and Mammy by Sonia Yarde in particular. This year there was similar artistry in a few productions, suggesting that another approach to the stage is developing among both playwrights and directors. Partnering the rise of realism is the ascendancy of symbolism, illusion, avante-garde techniques, the use of multimedia and video and even mild forms of absurdism.

These latest developments might well be the influence of the new National School of Theatre Arts and Drama which has now taken over oversight responsibility for the Drama Festival. This is evidenced by the appearance of the creative innovations among plays entered in the festival written and directed by graduates of the Drama School in both 2013 and 2014. The recent public performances of the school such as The Sirens, Ol Higue, The Baccoo, The Stick Fight, The Trouble With Neketa and Pandora’s Box as well as their performances of Greek and Ritualistic theatre demonstrated the various forms and research studied at the school. These ventured out into experimentations beyond the ubiquitous naturalist drama and seem to have strengthened and influenced students to explore.

Meanwhile the festival itself, has been a major influence on new playwriting and production. It has certainly provided incentives for established and new groups and is responsible for most of the recent new plays, the social realism and the innovative. Additionally, old and existing Guyanese plays have been brought back and reproduced for the festival, giving many more plays further public exposure.

At the culmination of all this, the National Drama Festival has released the shortlisted plays competing for the many prizes and awards for 2014. They are listed below.

Best Production: Chupucabra – Berbice High; Her Story – Tutorial High; Sins Of The Father -Bladen Hall Secondary; A Dramatic Turn Of Events/Procrastination – Annandale Secondary; Anansi’s Way – President’s College

Best Set Design & Use: Chupucabra; Sins Of The Father; Anansi’s Way; Baba Scissors & The Dictionary – Leonora Secondary; Death Of A Songbird – Institute Of Business Education

Best Use of Lights: Death Of A Songbird; A Dramatic Turn Of Events/Procrastination; Chupucabra; Right Unda Yuh Nose – St John’s College

Best Use of Sound: Chupucabra; Right Unda Yuh Nose; Her Story; Death Of A Songbird